① A CIFA reporter learned from CITIC Haizhi that the company has established cooperative relationships with many domestic and foreign eVTOL companies and is operating in various fields of the low-altitude economy. ② At present, China has launched commercial exploration in low-altitude economic fields such as logistics, agriculture, and tourism. ③ According to Ehang Intelligence, the first batch of certified EH216-S unmanned aerial vehicles is scheduled to be manufactured and rolled out in the fourth quarter of 2023 and delivered to customers for use.
Finance Association, December 28 (Reporter Wu Xin) In addition to buses, rentals, and shared travel, getting from one end of the city to the other, there is another new option — 130 km/h urban air traffic. As the low-altitude aircraft industry matures and low-altitude economic policies are gradually being improved, the air traffic ecosystem will no longer be an air pavement.
Recently, seven departments of Shenzhen jointly issued “Certain Measures to Support High-Quality Development of the Low-Altitude Economy in Shenzhen” (hereinafter referred to as “Measures”), which proposes to accelerate the industrialization of low-altitude aircraft such as manned eVTOLs, expand low-altitude flight application scenarios, and put low-altitude economic development on the “fast track”.
According to a Financial Services Association reporter, companies such as Ehang Intelligence, CITIC Haizhi (000099.SZ), Shangluo Electronics (300975.SZ), Haite Hi-Tech (002023.SZ), and Shanhe Intelligence (002097.SZ) have accelerated their deployment in the aforementioned fields. Analysts believe that as costs continue to decrease after large-scale operation, eVTOL is expected to be widely used.
Low-altitude aircraft terminal at the “starting point of commercialization”
The low-altitude aircraft industry, such as eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft), as part of the low-altitude economy, will gradually embark on the path of commercialization with improved policies. As of 2023, a total of 16 provinces (districts and municipalities) have included content related to the “low-altitude economy” in government work reports; among them, the five provinces of Sichuan, Hainan, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Anhui are the first batch of pilot low-altitude airspace management reform provinces in the country.
A person from the CITIC Haizhi Securities Department told the Financial Federation that the introduction of the Shenzhen “Measures” can promote the development of the low-altitude economy industry. “There are more possibilities we can operate, such as the recently popular eVTOL. We are all collaborating on these, and we can gradually expand our market scope.”
A CIFA reporter also learned directly from CITIC Haizhi that the company has established cooperative relationships with many domestic and foreign eVTOL companies, but it is still in its infancy. According to the company, “Low-altitude flight is subject to policy restrictions and can only continue to develop under policy guidance.”
In addition to COSCO Haidian, manufacturers such as Haite Hi-Tech and Ehang Intelligence are also speeding up their entry into the low-altitude aircraft field.
Haite Hi-Tech said on the investor interactive platform on December 15 that the company has successfully developed and delivered the first domestic eVTOL simulator and will carry out extensive eVTOL simulator manufacturing and training.
It is worth noting that the Ehang Smart EH216-S unmanned manned aerial vehicle was demonstrated for the first time in the world today in Hefei, which means that the company's driverless manned electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) is expected to enter the commercial operation stage.
Senior analyst Xia Jun believes that eVTOL has the basic conditions to become a lightweight air vehicle and is expected to be widely used in manned and cargo air traffic. As costs continue to decrease after large-scale operation, eVTOL is expected to be widely used.
Low-altitude economic layout “casts a wide net”
Through the power of policy, we can see the diverse and vast imaginative space of the low-altitude economy. According to the Forward-looking Industry Research Institute, China is currently exploring commercialization in the fields of logistics, agriculture, tourism, etc. In addition, there are many potential low-altitude flight scenarios such as production operations, public services, and aviation consumption.
CITIC Haizhi has spread the “big net” of the low-altitude market to places such as Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, etc., covering various scenarios such as emergency rescue and low-altitude travel, but currently it is still dominated by helicopters. A person from the company's securities department told the Financial Federation reporter that the low-altitude rescue scene “took a very long time, such as wildfires, earthquakes, and the sea.”
The aforementioned source further added that in the low-altitude travel scenario, routes from Shenzhen to places such as Zhuhai and Chaoshan have been in operation for a long time, and “between the middle of this year and the end of this year, another low-altitude sightseeing route was launched.” However, due to relatively small individual demand, the low-altitude travel business is mostly carried out in the form of charter flights.
Ehang Intelligence, on the other hand, focuses on the field of air traffic and works in various directions such as manned transportation and logistics transportation. According to the company, the first batch of certified EH216-S unmanned aerial vehicles is scheduled to be manufactured and rolled out in the fourth quarter of 2023 and delivered to customers for use.